British army sergeants in the Revolutionary War period were professional soldiers in a way their American counterparts mostly were not. Many had been in the regiment for fifteen or twenty years, were married to women whose families had been with the regiment for generations, and would die in the army. They were drawn from the enlisted ranks, promoted slowly through corporal to sergeant, and reached their rank by physical presence, literacy, and the kind of personal authority that didn't need to shout. The halberd carried in this figure was their badge: a polearm about seven feet long with an axe-head, crescent blade, and spike, descended from the medieval weapon of the same name, and still issued to British infantry sergeants through the 1790s. They used it to dress the line, to mark their position visibly to the company, and occasionally as a weapon — but mostly as the symbol that distinguished a man who could be trusted to make small decisions for a captain who might not see the whole field.

This figure shows a 43rd Regiment sergeant in dress uniform — scarlet coat with white facings, white cross-belts, red worsted sash around the waist (the sergeant's badge of rank, worn separately from the officer's silk version), white breeches, black knee gaiters, tricorne with white binding. The halberd is the figure's defining feature, held vertically in his right hand in the standard at-rest position; the long shaft and the visible head (axe blade with spike) made the sergeant locatable to his officers and his men at all times. He pairs with the British 43rd Foot Company Officer (his commanding officer), the British 43rd Foot Ensign with King's Colours, and the British 43rd Foot soldier in defensive position — together composing a complete 43rd Regiment chain of command from officer to NCO to enlisted man.

1/30 scale (60mm), matte-painted, single figure boxed. Catalog number 16203. As with the rest of the W. Britain modern range, the painting is photographic-quality detail intended to read well in dioramas and display cases.